Firm to pump £640m into search for shale gas

Chemicals firm Ineos is set to announce it is to spend up to $1billion (£640million) in the process, and hopes that it will become a major source of power for its string of British plants, including Grangemouth in Stirlingshire, central Scotland.

According to the BBC, Ineos is pinning its hopes on turning Grangemouth into a profitable business on being able to harness much of the power it needs from fracking.

This is the controversial technique which involves blasting water at high pressure into rocks deep underground to release the gas held inside them.

Ineos is planning to import shale gas via pipelines from other parts of Europe to feed its main plant, but ultimately wants to supplement this with domestic supplies, the BBC report said.

In readiness for this, it has spent large sums buying the right to explore for shale gas in large parts of the Midland Valley, the area around its Grangemouth facility.

But the move could set politicians in Westminster and Edinburgh against each other, according to the BBC, as the Scottish Assembly wants its own powers to be able to decide whether to let companies drill for gas down to depths of up to 300 metres without getting planning permission first.